Saturday, October 08, 2016

9:00AM-3:00PM Rabbit Lakes
Conditions: 53-36 degrees, Alternating between Mostly Sunny to Mostly Cloudy throughout the day, Wind out of the WNW 8-2MPH less wind towards the end.

I was asked to fish the annual Snatchers Mini Bucks Tournament by Charles Steinbauer because Nate, his usual partner, wasn't able to make it this year. The lakes were divided into 5 holes, one for each boat. Holes 1,2,4 and 5 were in the lake and the pit was a hole #3. We would get an hour and 10 minutes in each hole with I drew for us to start in Hole 4, which meant we got an extra 10 minutes to fish the pit.

In Hole #4 we didn't get anything on our first two spots. I caught a 14" keeper on our 3rd stop on a bluegill D & M Baits Piranha Swim Jig.

In Hole #5 (The northern most quarter of the lake) Chuck got 14" right away and I got a 12 incher on breen Crazy Legs Chigger Craw. I think Chuck got another 12 incher and then got a quality 17+ fish off a dock.

Hole #1 (The farthest SW quarter of the lake) Chuck got another quality 17+ bass. It hit like a pike and I got 13"on a Craw Tube along a reed point to cull out the smallest fish. This is the hole the Lunker for the tournament came out of in the Slop in the far western bay.

Hole #2 I got a 13" fish culled out our other dink on the Horny Toad in the reeds.

17.15" Craw Tube brown/grn pumpkin

Hole #3 (The Pit). I think my 17'er was the first fish we got in the Pit providing a good upgrade. Chuck got a couple of fish that didn't help and I got 1 that didn't on the craw tube. With about 15 minutes left I got 14" that was a small up grade.

When we went to take off to go in, we didn't have enough juice to start the motor. We had been having trouble with the electronics all day. I was eventually able to get a hold of Guy who came and towed us in.

Waiting to see what Guy and Dwight brought in.

Dwight and Guy won the tournament and got lunker. We got 3rd. Here are the results.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

The Day:
I missed the only bite right at the boat on Mark's starting spot on a Piranha with a Chigger Craw trailer. I don't think Mark got anything. Next we went somewhere on lower Whitefish where a point comes out. I got a 14.66" bass there on the Piranha and had multiple claws get bit off as well. Next we went to a close by protected shoreline. I got 3 pike pretty quickly on a white Booyah Spinnerbait, but the 3rd fish stole the lure. I think Mark got a rock bass off of a dock.

We next went to Big Trout to fish docks. Mark finally got his first keeper. I managed to get two keepers on a Yum Dinger. My lunker (2/1) came off of a pontoon boat lift with a pontoon on it. That was my last keeper of the day. I also missed a fish that felt good when it hung me up on a wave runner lift on a craw tube. I also got a pike on a weedline on the Craw Tube. Shortly after I got the pike Mark had a nice bass get off as it dove into the weeds.

We went back to Mark's starting spot and got nothing again. We spent the rest of the day in Lower Hay. Mark also caught a dink off of dock then had another good fish get off in the weeds on the same dock. Then the docks went dead. I caught a 10" dink out over the weeds and Mark caught his 5th and last keeper with about 10 minutes left over shallow weeds.

Results:My 3 fish weighed 5lbs 4ozs which put me in 14th Place out of 18 anglers. Mark had 5 fish for 8/13 which put him in 11th Place. The winner was Mick Ziebell with 17/1. Lunker was a 3/9 caught by Swannie. Whitefish fished tough and only 7 limits were caught.

I ended up finishing in 12th Place for the year, behind two guys that didn't fish in two tournaments. smh

Thoughts:
Not catching fish sucks. For some reason the fish were tucked up well under the docks and the wind made making good presentations difficult even with Mark putting down the Power-Pole. The day seemed to fly by as well. Only caught two limits out of the six tournaments and weighed 26 fish out of a possible 36. By far the worst fishing I've done as a Snatcher. I didn't reach a single one of my goals for 2016 as a Snatcher. But I did have a good time despite the poor fishing I encountered.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Pre-tournament thoughts: Rabbit Lake has always given me fish and my boater Dennis' confidence had me pretty confident I would get a limit. Turned out getting there was more difficult than we thought.

The Day:
The last two boats waited until 7:30 to put in, which annoyed Dennis and me as well. Conditions were perfect and we easily could have been fishing by 7:30, but as it was we blasted off at about 7:45. We went straight to one of Guy's spots with Dwight right behind us. We fished it for about 20 minutes and didn't get anything. Dwight caught a nice one, but we didn't see it.

Next we went to a spot that was protected from the wind where Dennis got some good fish pre-fishing. I put on the small Plopper and immediately had a 11.75" bass on. I think Dennis first fish was a pike. He then got a couple small keepers. I had a couple fish not get the Plopper, unfortunately all I have is the one color.

Next we headed to the wood and Dennis got a little better keeper, but that was it. We got to the spot where I got my best fish in pre-fish and I got an even bigger one (17.66) on a Lake Fork Craw Tube. Unfortunately that was all we got. We followed the road out and I got a 15.33" by where I got one in pre-fish. I also got a pike on the Craw Tube as well and Dennis got a walleye.

I think we then went to the island and didn't get anything there. We went back to our starting spot and Dennis got a quality fish that came off just as I got the net under it. Dennis was quite thankful. We spent quite a while there and Dennis got one more keeper. I just couldn't buy a bite there except a pike that bit me off.

We left to go to the numbers spot. Dennis forgot to put the trolling motor up and we got drenched. We had a good laugh. I missed a hit right away on the Craw tube and Dennis had a fish on pretty quickly as well. I think it might have been a pike. Dennis got a keeper and then he got his big fish. I got bit off. I started throwing a white spinnerbait and got a pike. Then I got a 14" and 12.75" pretty quickly as we worked back over the area. I think Dennis got a couple more keepers and missed some bites as well getting a nice walleye.

We went back to the island and I got a big dogfish. It put up a great fight. Unfortunately my attempt at a selfie with it failed.

Dennis got himself a cull. A rain storm was moving in on us, so we went to our second spot. I missed a fish on the Craw Tube right away. Then it started raining. I had a bass hit the Craw Tube as I was reeling it back to the boat and I landed it (14"). It started pouring. Dennis missed a few more bites. We got out in the wind and I cast out the Craw Tube and had an over run. When I picked the bait back up I thought I felt a fish, so I set the hook. My line cracked as my line broke just above the rod.

We headed back to where Dennis got his big fish. I got a nice pike on the black blue Piranha and I got a dink on the jerk shad that was only a couple inches longer than the bait. We got up by the pads and I got 15.5" on the white spinnerbait; the fish really thumped it. I got my limit with about 2 hours left

We went back to our starting spot and I discovered I didn't have enough line to fish on the craw tube rod. We didn't get anything. We went back and tried to expand on our numbers spot, but came up empty. We finished expanding on our second spot. Dennis had a fish that would have culled get off just before I could reach it. My last hit didn't get the spinnerbait and the day was over.

Results:My limit weighed 11lbs 4ozs and put me in 12th Place out of a field of 16. Dennis was one more big fish short of contending for the win. His 15/11 put him in 5th Place. Dwight "Hammer" Hammermeister took his very first Bass Snatcher victory with a 16/8 limit. Paul Ruff had a 4lb 3oz smallmouth that took Lunker.

My Thoughts:
I wish I could have gotten rid of the 12 incher. I would have moved up 1 spot for sure and possibly 2. I tried a number of lures that came up empty: Super Fluke, Swim Jig, Rattlin' Rap, Baby Minus One, Fat Free Shad, Chigger Craw, Jig and Chigger Craw, KVD Sexy Dog, and RI Vixen. For whatever reason I just cannot get in sync with the fish, it's frustrating. I should have been able to catch more than 6 keepers.

The Day:
We made the long run down to Sherry Arm and started on a large sunken Island with some cabbage where Bill had gotten a nice smallie in pre-fish. Nothing was home except a small rock bass that I got on a craw tube. We then moved to a wind blown point. I pulled two pike on a chart/white Strike King Spinnerbait and Bill got the first keeper of the day, a small largemouth. I had a good sized smallmouth head butt the spinnerbait right in front of me. Why couldn't the fish bite it instead?

About an hour and a half in we went to the slop in the South end of Sherry Arm. Bill got a couple more small largemouth. We then worked the W shoreline and I got a 13.5" largemouth on Sweet Revenge Mad Maxx. It showed itself and I got it on the second cast. A little farther down I got a 13.75" out of some bulrushes on a craw tube.

We went to another point and Bill got another small keeper largemouth. We went back to the point where I saw the smallie. I had a couple dink bass grab the spinnerbait and get off. Bill caught a 3-15 smallie on a jig. That made his day. We went back to the sunken island and didn't get anything. With about two hours left to go we headed back towards Tioga.

I got a 14" in some reeds with rice on the craw tube. We went into Poole Bay. I lost a tungsten sinker to a snag in the reeds because I didn't retie my line which had been getting frayed. Was not to happy about that. We then moved across to the West side of the bay to some lily pads that Bill hadn't pre-fished. I had fish miss the Horny Toad and Bill missed what sounded like a good fish just outside of the pads on his frog. Then his trolling motor caught a bunch of braided line with a spinnerbait attached, so we lost use of the trolling motor for the final hour.

We moved into Tioga Bay and drifted with the wind along some reeds. I had a good fish hit the Horny Toad but it swam right at me and I couldn't keep up and it got off. Don't know what it was because I never saw it. I had some dink bass hit the Horny Toad and had a couple good strikes not hook up. Bill got a small cull and the day was over.

Results:My three fish weighed 4lbs 13ozs which put in 13th Place out of 14 anglers. Bill's fish went 11-7 and put him in 10th Place. 1st Place went to Tim Benson with 17lbs 8ozs and Dave Smith had the 4-8 Lunker.

My Thoughts:
I thought for sure I was getting last place in this one, but Art saved me from that fate. We just weren't on anything as Bill having the smallest limit of the tournament with a 3-15 kicker proves. I should have thrown the jerk shad some, but was to lazy to switch the spinnerbait for a speed clip. That smallmouth bumping the spinnerbait and not eating it got in my head a little bit. They usually crush it and are hooked up solid.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

7:50AM-4:00PM Fishhook Lake
Conditions: 79-63 degrees, Mostly sunny to partly cloudy to mostly cloudy, started calm then winds from 5 to 10 MPH out of the SW

Pre-tournament Thoughts:
I came into this tournament hoping for the best, but expecting it might be a difficult day. My boater Art doesn't have a GPS and the Lakemaster Chip for mine just has generic contours of the lake that may or may not be accurate. I didn't even think it was worth bothering putting in waypoints of spots to check out. I did bring the GPS with though.

The Day:
We blasted off third and headed East to large point with a big weed flat. I believe 5 other boats started on it. I took that as an encouraging sign. We were the closest boat in towards shore. Dennis Lothspeich was in the closest boat to us and he had a pike break him off on his first cast. My boater Art got a rock bass. Herman who was in Dennis boat got himself a keeper largemouth. I started out throwing topwater and didn't raise a thing. I got a rock bass on the Piranha and had a pike follow in it as well. Art got a couple more rock bass and pretty much everybody left the area after an hour and a half. I had a pike break off my Texas rig and the wind started up.

We moved to the NW corner of the lake and I got a pike on the Pure Poison with Swim Fluke Jr. for a trailer. We then moved in to try a few docks. Very fishy looking water to me. Between two of the docks there was a tree hanging over the water and I put a cast up right by shore. Sure enough there was a good bass sitting there that took my Fluke and I hooked it. It went 16", I wouldn't be getting a skunk for the day. I was feeling pretty good about that. We came up to some slop and reeds and I missed a hit on a LiveTarget Frog. I wasn't looking at the lure when it hit. I did get a good hookset, just don't think the fish had the frog.

We ended up going back to our starting spot. We started catching rock bass and I had a pike break me off again. I think I caught the next bass, a 14.25" keeper on a craw tube. I didn't have my wits about me, as I didn't throw out a marker buoy I brought or think to put a waypoint in the GPS. Art inexplicably decided to move us pretty much right after I caught the fish. Art eventually did catch himself a keeper. I didn't even cross my mind to throw the buoy or mark a waypoint. We caught a few more rock bass. Then we left and tried a couple other spots getting nothing. With about an hour and a half left in the day we went back to the starting area again. I quickly landed a 13.75" and a 14" keeper on the craw tube and Art landed his biggest fish and had one jump him off. Once again I didn't think to throw the marker or put in a way point. That was the last of our action other than a few more rock bass and a couple of bites that I missed.

Results: My four fish weighed 7lbs 8ozs which put me in 16th Place out of 18 anglers. Art's 2 fish weighed 3/11 and put him in 17th Place. Keith Tuma won with a modest 16/10 and Lunker went to Tim Benson with a 5/2.

My Thoughts: Who knows if I would have thrown out the marker buoy or marked where we caught fish on the GPS would have made a difference or not. I just wish I had thought to do it. Catching 1 more fish would have moved me up at least 2 more spots. Other than the brain fart on the marker buoy and GPS, I thought I took advantage of what I was presented with. The one suggestion I gave on where to fish didn't produce anything for us. Getting bit by rock bass kept me from getting bored and I only lost two tungsten weight's to the pike. The day could have gone far worse. I'm just glad I caught anything.Next Tournament: Lake Pokegama (Grand Rapids) Aug 6th.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Conditions: 70-88 degrees, Windy to Extremely Windy out of the SSW, Mostly Sunny turning cloudy in the last hour or so.

The Day: Our first stop was the points on the South side of the Channel into the South bay. We worked our way NE than North after we went around the second point. We didn't get anything on the points and were heading North to the docks. I was throwing the Whopper Plopper across the channel towards the lake side of the other point. The Plopper was almost back to the boat when a 14.25" hit it. First keeper of the morning.

We worked our way North into the reeds and rice. My boater Tony got a couple of squeakers and I got one (13") as well on a Horny Toad. I missed a hit in the rice along the back edge of the reed. We working the shallow side of another reed bed when a fish missed the Horny Toad. I cast back and got a 14" fish. Tony saw a descent size fish jump and worked himself into position to get it. It took some casting, but eventually he got it to hit. It was a solid fish.

We worked the reed beds and Tony got his limit. I wasn't getting any hits on the Horny Toad or a frog, so I started throwing a white Grass Pig on a weighted swimbait hook. I got a 14.25", then I lost a fish at least that size when it got hung up on the very last reed before it was in the clear. I then got a 13.95" bass and then lost the next one that hit me in the reeds. We went and fished a dock. I threw my fluke to a clump of rice and good fish jumped all over it, but I botched the hook set. I couldn't get the fish to hit again. We went back into the reeds. I think I missed two more hits in the reeds before I finally got my limit fish, a 12.5" squeaker. We were a little over 2 hours into the tournament at this point and the wind was really starting to come up.

I think the next fish in the boat was Tony's big bass, a solid 3lber. We decided to go back and start all over in the reeds. As we were coming to another reed bed I made a fairly long cast with my craw tube and 15 incher picked it up. That was my big bass of the day and the only one I would get on the craw tube. I did also get a rock bass and a green sunfish on the craw tube that I thought for sure was going to be a bass by the way it hit.

Took a picture of the little guy.

We went for a long stretch without getting anything. Eventually we started getting fish again. I culled out my second fish with a 13.5". Don't remember what I caught it on, the swimbait maybe. I started throwing the double Colorado blade Strike King Spinnerbait and I caught a pike, then a rock bass, then a 12", then my final cull of the day with a 14" on it.

With a little more than an hour left it seemed like the wind was quieting down, so we ran up the lake to the other spot we got fish while pre-fishing. That was a mistake as it was still whipping around up there. We tried it for about half an hour then headed for the SE shoreline which was still in the wind. I looked in the well and one of Tony's fish had expired. After getting nothing there for 10 minutes we called it quits. I don't remember exactly when, but shortly after Tony pointed the boat towards weigh-in we hit something, spun the hub, and bent up the prop pretty bad. We waved down Guy who towed us to weigh in.

Results:My limit weighed 8lbs 10ozs, which put me in 16th Place out of 21 anglers. Tony's fish weighed 13-14, but the 2oz penalty cost him 3rd Place because Guy with whom he was now tied had the Lunker for the day at 4-7. Chuck Steinbauer was the tournament winner with 16-2.

My Thoughts: Tony's boat control in that nasty wind was excellent. With a little better luck in landing the fish that bit I may have had a shot at being in the Top 10. Lost fish are part of the deal in the reeds. I did beat my weight by 14ozs from the tournament we had on South Long on 6/21/09, but my place of finish is one place worse this time.

In AOY I'm 4 points ahead of where I was at this point last year. I finished in front of the two guys that were behind me at Birch. Unfortunately I didn't manage to finish in front of anyone who was in front of me either, other than two guys who did not fish this tournament. I am going to have to fish better if I'm going to make my goal of finishing in the Top 10 for the year.

Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Conditions: 65-55 degrees, Cloudy with some rain, Windy for most of the day out of the NW

Not The Day I Was Looking For:
We blasted off at about a quarter to 8AM. We went to the channel that separates the two basins. I quickly had a fish on my D & M Baits Piranha bluegill color, but it was a pike. As we were fishing through the channel I had the Grass Pig's tail get bit off. As we worked our way North out of the Western side of the channel I got a 12.75" keeper on a black/blue Piranha with a Chigger Craw trailer. We kept moving North. I got a 11" on the Chigger Craw. The wind came up and it started raining.

We moved to the South side of the Island and fished around the rock point. As we were working the windward side coming up on Paul and Hammer my boater Darren stuck the Lunker of the Day. That was the only fish we got in that area. We worked around the West side of the Island where I got a pike on an Okeechobee Craw Craw Fatty. We started down the East side and Darren missed a hit. I quickly landed a 14.75" in the same general area on the Craw Fatty. We pulled a little more off shore and I got a 14.25" and a 16.75" (2-6) also on the Craw Fatty. Darren picked up a couple of fish as well on Craw Tubes. I landed a short and a couple of pike and missed some hits. Darren got his limit. The action slowed. Darren switched to a Senko. He had a mule on, but his drag was too loose. He tightened it up to much and the fish broke him off as it jumped just out of reach of the net.

That kind of wrecked the mood in the boat as Darren was pissed off and I wasn't getting bit out there in the wind and rain. Also my upper back really started to be a pain. Darren did get another good fish on the Senko and maybe one or two more fish on it. I tried an Strike King Ocho and a couple of crankbaits. We finally bailed on the place with about an hour and a half left.

We tried a point where we had gotten a fish in prefish. Didn't get anything there. We moved in to try a few docks. I got a bad wind knot that put my Fluke Rod out of commission. That truly sapped my confidence. We tried another point where I got a pike on the bluegill Piranha. Darren got a fish that didn't help him. We worked some slop not getting a hit.

We hit the channel on the way in. I got a rock bass on the Craw Fatty and Darren got a small upgrade, but then he culled two fish leaving him one short of a limit. That error ended up costing him two places in the final standings.

Results:My 4 fish weighed 6lbs 9ozs and put me in 13th out of 15 anglers. Darren came in 6th Place with 12-6. Dennis Lothspeich as noted above was the winner and his fish weighed 14-9, beating Guy Henkensiefkin by 2 ozs. and Chuck Steinbauer by 3ozs

My Thoughts: Bottom line I didn't fish very well or intelligently. I skipped right past the Chigger Craw I had on to put on the Ocho. We were fishing a spot that was ideal for a football head jig. It didn't even enter my mind. I should have thrown a jerkbait as well. I allowed myself to get frustrated and mentally spun out.

I think it really would have helped if we would have had a marker buoy or two out. We were fishing far enough off shore and a school of fish was definitely there. Not having a marker buoy made us far less efficient. I was out there throwing blind.

I give myself a D for for that disappointing and depressing finish. I now haven't caught a limit in 3 straight tournaments.

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About Me

I was born a fisherman on 1/3/1970. My fondest early memories are of waking up before day break to go fishing for Largemouth Bass with my Dad on Sylvia/Twin Lake in Wright County MN. Fishing has always been in my blood and the older I got the more fishing and bass fishing has become a passion.
I am blessed to currently live on a lake in Central Minnesota where the weeds grow thick and the Lgmth Bass grow big (well, big for MN anyway). There are few things in life like a big ole toad smacking a weedless frog through the wild rice, reeds, pads, or other slop. My favorite techniques are slopping weedless frogs, Zoom Super Flukes, & Topwater esp. for Smallies; I am also starting to really get into pitching.
I do fish for more than bass as this weblog will show. I love catching Pike, Salmon, Trout, and Crappie which are my other favorite freshwater species. Ohh and I can't forget Dogfish as that I am the 2004 & 2006 Minnesota Bowfin Grand Champion.
Blogging since 2004.
See yah on da lake!